Teen Shot In Parking Lot

Chattanooga Police Sergeant Jerri Weary tells us a group of teens were out last night after a 4th of July party at Club Fathom downtown.

They went from the club to a parking lot nearby--the Unum lot--and that's where the trouble started.

"A white car entered onto the lot and started circling the area. after a few moments, someone from that vehicle started firing on the crowd," she says.

One of those teens, a 15-year-old, was shot in the chest. At least one friend there knew he needed medical attention.

"One of the friends he was with gathered him up and was taking him to the hospital, and while in transport to the hospital they ran into another vehicle," Weary says.

The head-on crash happened near the 900 block of East 3rd Street, just before Erlanger. That's where the teen is at right now, listed in critical condition.

But, Weary says, the time of the shooting, does raise eyebrows, telling us, "it's defnintely beyond curfew."

The curfew ordinance says children under the age of 16 can't be out past 11:00 at night.

The shooting happened around 2:00 this morning.

"Curfew says if you're going to be out past a certain time you have to be with an adult. And in this situation, we can't find where an adult was present," Weary says.

Weary says until the teen wakes up, the investigation is essentially at a standstill.

Witnesses haven't been able to provide much information as to what, if anything, led to the shooting.

"We don't know if the shooting itself was targeted towards a specific individual or towards a specific person. Right now we just don't have enough to go on to make that determination."